Network Your Way to Success, and Remember: Its Not About You!

Quote of the week

"The answer is always no...unless you ask." - Unknown

Whether you're in sales or not, this is an incredibly true statement. If you don't ask someone for help, they won't help you. Chances are, they won't even know you need help. I think people like to other people favors, so by asking, you're giving them a chance to help you Make it Great and be your hero.

The book I selected this week should help you with some creative ways to network and meet people that eventually you can ask for help.

So I say, ask away, and remember: You may never be able to repay their kindness and compassion. Ask anyway, but don't forget to pay it forward and help someone else who may not be able to repay you.

Please do read on...

Book of the week

Never Eat Alone - Keith Ferazzi

I haven't finished this book yet, but the first time I picked it up, I spent almost an hour at Barnes & Noble reading through it. Great information shared in this fantastic book, including some tips on how NOT to be a networking jerk, some goal setting tips, and how to be more audacious in your networking opportunities. Again, ask the question, or you won't have a chance to Make it Great!

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Action Items for Your Week to help you Make it a Great Week!

1) If you don't have personal business cards, make some. You can pick up a pack of 250 plain ones you can print at home, on your computer, for about $20 at Office Max or Office Depot, or get 250 that you can design with a small bit of advertising on the back at Vista Print.

2) If you already have business cards, or after you make some of your own (see this week's action item #1) put 10 in your pocket every time you leave the house. Put 10 cards in your car, put 10 in your briefcase or bookbag, and put 3 or 4 in your wallet. You never know when you're going to get an opportunity to meet someone who can help you or who you can help.

Until next time...Make it a GREAT day!

Phil Gerbyshak

http://www.makeitgreat.org/

PAST ISSUES: http://makeitgreat.blogspot.com

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

United Auto Workers members listen to UAW President Ron Gettelfinger speak at a news conference at a meeting of UAW officials in Detroit, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008.  (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)AP - The United Auto Workers said Wednesday it is willing to change its contracts with U.S. automakers and accept delayed payments of billions of dollars to a union-run health care trust to do its part to help the struggling companies secure $34 billion in government loans.



President-elect Barack Obama speaks at a news conference in Chicago, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - President-elect Barack Obama signaled a clear desire Wednesday to use a significant portion of $700 billion in financial bailout funds to stanch foreclosures by helping struggling homeowners with their mortgages. "The deteriorating assets in the financial markets are rooted in the deterioration of people being able to pay their mortgages and stay in their homes," he said.



A bomb disposal squad officer, center, takes a suspicious box to the police station after diffusing a bomb at Chhatrapati Shivaji train station in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008. Police on Wednesday discovered leftover explosives hidden in a bag in Mumbai's main train station, a stunning new example of botched security after the deadly rampage that left the government open to accusations it missed warnings and bungled its response. (AP Photo)AP - Police searching a mound of baggage abandoned amid the carnage of the attack on Mumbai's main train station found two bombs Wednesday — nearly a week after they were left there by gunmen — in a stunning new example of the botched security that has become a major issue in India since the three-day siege.



AP - Still popular in Florida, former Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday that he's interested in the seat Sen. Mel Martinez is giving up, and the field of possible candidates could quickly narrow to make way for the president's younger brother.

Pirates ride alongside the luxury American cruise ship M/S Nautica, in this photo take from the Nautica, during a hijack attempt on the vessel, off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008.  The M/S Nautica, carrying 656 international passengers and 399 crew members, was sailing through the Gulf of Aden on Sunday when it encountered six bandits in two speedboats.  The pirates fired at the passenger liner but the larger ship was faster than the pirates' vessels, and escaped being boarded.(AP Photo)AP - Ordered to get inside and stay down, Oregon tourist Clyde Thornburg heard the pirates' rifle shots hit the side of the luxury cruise liner — "Pop! Pop! Pop!" — then felt the ship speed up to escape.



This undated photo provided by the Tracy Police Department shows Caren Ramirez. Police were seeking Ramirez on suspicion of participating in alleged abuse against her 17 year-old nephew who showed up Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 at a northern California gym with a chain locked to his ankle. (AP Photo/Tracy Police Department)AP - The aunt and one-time guardian of an emaciated and shackled 17-year-old has been arrested, as police tried to determine how she knew the couple accused of holding the teen against his will for nearly a year.



University of California, Los Angeles, Professor of Psychiatry  Dr. Gary Small plays with a digital memory electronic device at his office at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior in Westwood, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)AP - What does a teenage brain on Google look like? Do all those hours spent online rewire the circuitry? Could these kids even relate better to emoticons than to real people? These sound like concerns from worried parents. But they're coming from brain scientists.



This undated file photo provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections shows Jennifer Hudson's estranged brother-in-law William Balfour. Balfour has been arrested Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 in Illinois in the deaths of the singer's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. (AP Photo/Illinois Department of Corrections)AP - A prosecutor alleged Wednesday that Jennifer Hudson's brother-in-law killed three family members because he was angry his estranged wife — the singer's sister — was dating another man.



AP - The one that didn't get away held an unlikely surprise for a Texas man. The blue-stoned class ring of Joe Richardson, engraved with his name, turned up inside an 8-pound bass 21 years after he lost it while fishing on Lake Sam Rayburn.

In this Aug. 31, 2008, file photo, Boston Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia walks back to the dugout during a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park in Boston. The Red Sox have agreed to terms with the 2008 AL Most Valuable Player on a six-year contract, the team announced on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)AP - Dustin Pedroia has a Rookie of the Year award, an MVP, a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger and, of course, a World Series ring.



General Motors employee Eddie Webster rests his hand against a new Chevy Tahoe at a rally held to support federal aid to the U.S. auto industry at the GM assembly plant in Arlington, Texas, November 18, 2008. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama said on Wednesday struggling automakers have put forward a "more serious" restructuring proposal to Congress but withheld judgment on the plans until hearings are held.



Trading specialists work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, December 3, 2008. (Chip East/Reuters)Reuters - Record declines in the vast U.S. and European service sectors and more grim U.S. employment news on Wednesday sparked fear of an economic "free fall," setting up another round of aggressive interest rate cuts.



Students of the Pakistani Islamist party Jammat-e-Islami chant anti-Indian slogans during a protest against the Indian government's claims that Pakistan-based militants were behind the Mumbai attacks, during a rally in Islamabad, December 3, 2008. (Mian Khursheed/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Pakistan to cooperate fully in the probe into the Mumbai attacks but she also warned India against any action that could stoke regional conflict.



Chrysler assembly worker Leroy Feltz works on a 2009 Jeep Wrangler at the Toledo Supplier Park Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio December 3, 2008. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)Reuters - All options were on the table on Wednesday as congressional committees scrutinized auto company restructuring proposals and an urgent appeal for $34 billion in aid ahead of make-or-break hearings.



The U.S. Senate and Congressional Democratic leadership attends a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee/Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee election watch party in Washington November 4, 2008. From L-R are: DSCC Chairman Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), DCCC Chairman Christopher Van Hollen (D-MD), and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). (Larry Downing/Reuters)Reuters - Senate Democrats will be able to do plenty over the next two years -- despite falling just short of their goal of winning a majority big enough to end Republican procedural roadblocks.



Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson speaks at a news conference at the Treasury Department in Washington, November 25, 2008. (Jason Reed/Reuters)Reuters - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is weighing whether to ask Congress for the remaining $350 billion of the financial bailout fund, with White House aides approaching President-elect Barack Obama's transition team about the idea, an Obama aide said on Wednesday.



Reuters - Imprisoned former WorldCom Inc chief Bernard Ebbers has joined the list of high-profile corporate defendants petitioning for clemency in the final days of President George W. Bush's term in office.

A U.S soldier stands guard during a graduation ceremony at Al-Furat Iraqi Police Training Center in Baghdad December 2, 2008. (Saad Shalash/Reuters)Reuters - A string of departures by the U.S. military's allies in Iraq is turning into an exodus as violence subsides and the end of a U.N. mandate permitting their deployment to the country approaches.



A map locating the main terrorist attacks in Mumbai. India on Wednesday warned that all options were open in dealing with Pakistan after last week's attacks on Mumbai, as the United States pressured Islamabad to show urgent cooperation with the probe.(AFP/Graphic)AFP - India on Wednesday warned that all options were open in dealing with Pakistan after last week's attacks on Mumbai, as the United States pressured Islamabad to show urgent cooperation with the probe.



Children go to fetch water at a plant in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, on December 1, 2008. Baton-wielding riot police broke up protests in Harare and detained dozens Wednesday, as the death toll of a cholera epidemic neared 600 in Zimbabwe's worsening health and economic crises.(AFP/File/Desmond Kwande)AFP - Baton-wielding riot police broke up protests in Harare and detained dozens Wednesday, as the death toll of a cholera epidemic neared 600 in Zimbabwe's worsening health and economic crises.




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